Father's Day
by iloveromance
Summary: An unexpected (and ill-timed) visit from his father turns into something that Niles will never forget.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story blossomed from a scene in the "Mad Men" episode entitled "The Inheritance".**

Martin smiled at the surprised expression of the kind woman when he walked through the doorway. But in all fairness, he couldn't really blame her. After all, it wasn't every day that he showed up unannounced at his son's office. And in fact, this was one of the very few times that he'd actually been here. He supposed that he really should have stopped by more often; taken more of an interest in his youngest son's profession, but he hoped that this visit would make up for his shortcomings of support. The thought of what he'd planned made him smile in anticipation.

"Mr. Crane!"

"Hey, good morning Mrs. Woodson! How are you doing?" Martin attempted to be as cheerful as possible and he found it surprisingly easy. But as he expected, Mrs. Woodson was skeptical and rightly so. He wasn't the most cheerful person in the world these days but he was trying, for the sake of his family. He owed them that much at least.

"Well, this is…. unexpected. I'm fine, Mr. Crane. How are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm great! Never better!" Martin replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

"I'm very happy to hear that. Is-is there something that I can do for you?"

"Yeah, you can cancel all of my son's appointments for the day." Martin said bluntly. "He's coming with me!"

Mrs. Woodson stiffened. "Oh no… I'm sorry, Mr. Crane. I can't do that. Dr. Crane gave me explicit instructions-."

"Well, I'm giving you _new_ orders, you got that?" Martin barked, smiling in satisfaction at her stunned expression. Clearly his authority still counted for something, even if he was no longer a part of the Seattle Police Department.

The woman looked at him worriedly and slowly reached for the intercom button. "Um, Dr. Crane… You have a visitor."

 _"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Woodson."_ The tinny voice of his son replied. _"It's highly unusual for Mrs. Ross to be so early for an appointment, but-."  
_

"It's not Mrs. Ross." Mrs. Woodson replied.

A beat and then… _"Oh, well, whomever it is, just tell them that I'm very busy and to make an appointment."_

Mrs. Woodson's eyes met Martin's. "Well, actually Dr. Crane, I think it would be best if you greet this visitor in person. I wouldn't have disturbed you but this is a matter of utmost importance."

Martin nodded, satisfied with Mrs. Woodson's lie and he smiled. "Thanks."

But Niles' agitated sigh coming through the intercom spoke volumes. Martin could sense that this was not going to go well at all. Still he was determined to make it work, no matter what the cost.

 _"Mrs. Woodson, I gave you explicit instructions-."_

"Yes, I-I know, Dr. Crane. And I'm sorry, but under the circumstances-."

 _"All right, fine!"_ Niles yelled, cursing perhaps to himself, but it was just loud enough for Mrs. Woodson and Martin to hear. She gasped lightly as her hand flew to her mouth in embarrassment while Martin merely smiled and shook his head.

The door opened and Martin found his youngest son standing in the doorway, staring at him in disbelief. "Dad-."

Martin grinned and waved. "Hey, son."

Niles moved further into the lobby. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I know it's not often that I show up at your office, but-."

"Try _never_." Niles snapped, his eyebrows narrowing.

Stung by the bitterness, Martin glanced at Mrs. Woodson, grateful for her sympathetic smile. He knew that he should have said something about having respect for ones parents but he thought better of it. Niels was under a great deal of stress and rightly so. He was about to undergo the biggest change of his life.

And that was precisely the reason for Martin's unannounced visit.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're right son, and I'm sorry about not calling first. I'm sure you'll want to talk about it, but right now I'm here to take you out."

Niles' eyebrows rose. "Out?"

"You work too hard and I though that you and I could head over to Duke's for a beer. You know, watch the game, and chat with the boys…"

"Game?"

"Yeah, you know… the basketball game! The Sonics…" At his son's blank look, Martin chuckled. "Na, I guess you _don't_ know, do you?" Well, what the hell, let's go and get a beer."

"Dad, no! I _can't_!"

"Well, _sure_ you can! This _is_ your office isn't it?"

"Yes it is and that's exactly why I can't go anywhere with you. I'm sorry, but I have a full day of patients, plus a few meetings to attend. I doubt I'll get home before-."

"Um... No you don't."

Niles was clearly taken aback by Martin's abruptness. "What is that supposed to mean? Dad, I have a whole day of-."

Martin glanced from Niles to Mrs. Woodson. "Niles, you don't have any appointments. Your day is free and clear, isn't that right, Mrs. Woodson?"

Niles looked from his father to his secretary. "What is he talking about?"

Mrs. Woodson swallowed hard. "Your father is right, Dr. Crane. A-All of your appointments have been canceled. Your meetings too. Or at least they will be in about fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen-Mrs. Woodson, who gave you permission to cancel all of my appointments? " Niles voice rose in volume with every word, much to Martin's annoyance. And when Mrs. Woodson looked worriedly at him, Martin knew that he had to say something.

"Niles, calm down!"

" _Calm down? Calm down_?" Niles yelled, almost frantic. "No I _won't_ calm down, Dad! Do you have any idea at all what you've done? And Mrs. Woodson, I should fire you for-."

"Niles, _calm down_!" Martin said again. He looked at Mrs. Woodson and smiled. "No one is getting fired! If you want to be mad at someone be mad at _me_! _I'm_ the one who gave her permission, so enjoy your day off, Mrs. Woodson!"

Mrs. Woodson touched her silvery hair in a nervous gesture. "Well, I suppose I could visit my son. He works at home so it would certainly be a surprise. if I showed up unannounced."

"Sure it would!" Martin said enthusiastically. "What son wouldn't want a surprise visit from his mother?"

Mrs. Woodson smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Crane. But… are you sure that this is all right, Dr. Crane?"

Martin could tell from Niles' face that it wasn't all right. It wasn't all right in the least. But to his youngest son's credit, Niles simply nodded and sighed irritably. "It's fine, Mrs. Woodson. Enjoy your time with your family. And I'm sorry for getting so angry."

"You had every right, Dr. Crane. And don't worry. I'll call all of your patients and reschedule everything right now. I'll tell them that you had a family matter to take care of."

Martin chuckled. "Sounds good to me. Come on Niles. Let's go and get a beer!"

"But Dad-."

Martin entered Niles' office and looked around, pausing for a moment. Suddenly he was filled with pride for his youngest son. Niles had certainly done well for himself. Hester would have been so proud. At the memory of his beloved wife, Martin breathed in deeply, determined to keep his emotions in check. Now was not the time to get emotional over the woman he missed so badly.

After one more glance around the office, he smiled. His heart was warm and he liked that feeling. And then he grabbed Niles briefcase, and then turned out the light as he walked out of the office. "Do you have a key, or…"

"Oh right..." Niles said. His slim fingers reached into his pocket and removed his keys. He thumbed through them until he found the right one and then locked the door.

Martin handed Niles his briefcase. "Here. In case you want to do some work later."

Finally Niles smiled. "Thanks Dad. But I still don't see…"

"You will."

"What?"

"Just come on, Niles! Let's get out of this place! I'm dying for a beer!"


	3. Chapter 3

As they drove in silence toward Duke's, Niles tried several times to speak, but he knew that talking was pointless. He should have been used to this; the awkward silence between him and his father. They both had so much to say but the words wouldn't come.

Yet, he felt that he was obligated to say something.

For starters he could have been asking his father what had possessed him to show up at his office in the middle of the day one what was easily the busiest day of his career. Or why Mrs. Woodson so hastily canceled his appointments. He was angry at her, that was certain, and although he had threatened to fire her he would never do it. She was a godsend to him, like a member of his family. He knew that he'd upset her, for she'd been working for him for years and she needed her job. And so he made a mental note to make it up to her, or at least apologize. Hopefully she would understand. He needed her, more than she realized.

And then he pondered his father's visit once more. What could have possessed him to show up unannounced? Suddenly he panicked. Could something have happened to Daphne? He shuddered at the thought. Dear God, he would have been completely and utterly devastated at even the idea of losing her, especially now when the loss would have been even greater than normal. But his father had been smiling, which confused him further.

Why was he so adamant about asking if they could go out for a beer in the middle of the day? It just didn't make sense, but nevertheless, Niles pondered it over and over in his head. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with one logical reason as to why.

But as they pulled into the nondescript gravel parking lot; indicated by the way the gravel crunched as his father drove onto it, the worn green building with the tattered wooden sign came into view. However, he saw something else as well; something even more disturbing, like one of Daphne's visions.

He saw it clearly, and suddenly he was terrified. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been so scared. The thought brought tears to his eyes; tears that he had to fight to keep at bay and he shivered.

"You cold, Niles?"

"Wh-what?"

"Come on. A cold beer will warm you right up."

Niles' eyebrows rose, trying to make sense of his father's words. How in the world could a cold beer warm someone up? Was his father showing signs of his age, his memory starting to fail him? No. Niles refused to think it. Martin Crane may have been getting older, but he was as strong as he'd ever been, mentally anyway. There was absolutely no sense in worrying about something that wasn't going to happen.

And so he quickly climbed out of the car and followed his father to the familiar hangout. But as they reached the door, he put his hand on his father's arm, preventing him from opening the door. "Dad, wait…"

"Something wrong, Niles?"

Niles sighed deeply and looked into his father's eyes, trying desperately to keep his own eyes from filling with tears. "Um yeah, actually there is."

"Well, what's wrong?"

"Dad, why… Why did you do this?"

"Do what?"

"This… come to my office unannounced, have Mrs. Woodson cancel all of my appointments, drag me to Duke's for a beer…"

His father's smile disappeared, replaced with a look of annoyance. "What's wrong with that? Can't a man have a drink with his son?"

"Dad, you know I prefer wine!" Niles yelled, immediately regretting the ridiculous comment. And he could tell from his father's face that the comment was not welcome. He didn't need to see his dad's expression to know that he'd angered him.

"Excuse the hell out of me, Niles! This is a bar, not one of your four star restaurants! All they have is beer! If you don't like it, you're more than welcome to leave, but you'll be sorry!"

Again his father tried to open the door and again Niles grabbed his arm. "Dad…"

"What, Niles? Come on… I thought you were cold…"

"I-I… Are you sure that everything's okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"Because this is…. _Unusual,_ don't you think? The two of us, going to Duke's for a beer?"

"Yeah I guess it is, but there's a first time for everything, so come on…"

"But Dad-."

"Come on…" Before Niles could stop his father again, the older man thrust the door open. The fact that his father was unwilling to offer any other information caused Niles even more unease, but he tried his best to hide it as he helped his father open the heavy wooden door and together they walked inside.


	4. Chapter 4

But no sooner had they took two steps forward, Niles froze.

"Damn, it sure is dark in here." His father remarked as they moved a bit further.

"Dark doesn't even _begin_ to describe it!" Niles retorted, trying to feel his way into the establishment. "I can't even see my hand in front of my face! What's going on?"

"I-I'm not sure, Son."

"Dad, are you sure that Duke's is even _open_?"

"Sure, they're open! He's always open at this time of day!"

Once again, worry crept over Niles. Perhaps his earlier thought that his father's memory might have been failing wasn't so crazy after all. And perhaps it was time to face that fact. "But it's so dark, Dad! I-."

Suddenly the place brightened. "SURPRISE!"

Shaken by the unexpected outburst, Niles looked around the tavern in complete astonishment. All around him were familiar faces; his father's friends, Duke, Stinky, Bud, Wolf Man, Boom Boom (where did they come up with such ridiculous names?), and Jim. And then he saw even more familiar faces; those of Bulldog, Gil, Kenny and even Chopper Dave. But one face stood out in the crowd. It was a face he knew better than all of the others. And suddenly he felt like crying.

However, before he could even begin to react, he was engulfed into a hug.

"Niles, it's so good to see you. I've missed you!"

Niles drew back and smiled at his brother. He wanted to say the words in return, for truer words could not have been spoken. Since his older brother, his best friend, had moved to San Francisco, Niles missed him terribly. After a long moment he drew back. "Frasier…. What are you doing here?"

"Well, that's a fine way to greet your only brother!" Frasier quipped.

Niles chuckled. "I'm sorry. It's good to see you Frasier. Of course I've missed you too, but-."

Frasier grinned; a sure sign that something was up. "Yes, Niles?"

Niles looked around at the sea of faces and then back at his brother in confusion. And when he looked around again, he noticed the décor. The tavern had been transformed. Everywhere he looked there were balloons and streamers in shades of pastel pink, blue, green and yellow, along with a banner that hung on one wall of the tavern. The sign read: _CONGRATULATIONS, NILES!_ And it was decorated in the same pastel colors. He turned to his brother and father who were smiling like Cheshire cats.

"What's all of this?"

"What does it look like, Niles?" his father asked. "It's your baby shower!"

Niles' eyes narrowed. "My baby shower? But I'm not-."

"You're going to be a father, aren't you?" Duke asked. "That's what we were told. Maybe Daphne left out one small detail about who the father of this kid is!"

The men laughed uproariously, leavening Niles even more confused (and a bit appalled at Duke's assumption). "Well of course I'm going to be a father! Why wouldn't I be! You know that! You all know that, but Daphne's' the one -."

"Who the hell says? Why should Daphne get all of the baby showers?" His father asked. "This one is for you!"

Niles wasn't sure why his father was so enthusiastic about something so unusual, or why he'd conjured up such an elaborate scheme to get him there. "I-I don't understand."

"You don't _have_ to understand, Niles!" Frasier said. He ushered him to a long table, where in the middle sat a large sheet cake. The base of the cake was yellow frosting with pink and blue trim. And in the center a cartoon-ish stork made out of white icing was carrying a brown bundle in his mouth beside the blue icing words;

 _CONGRATULATIONS NILES, IT'S A CRANE!_

Niles was so touched that he felt embarrassing tears spring to his eyes. He could hardly believe the moment was real. "I-is this really for me?"

Everyone in attendance laughed. "Not just the cake, Niles! All of it!" Frasier bellowed. "There are gifts too. Lots of them!"

Niles stared at the guests and the cake for several moments. "This is… I don't know what to say..."

"Don't say anything, just open the damn presents!" Kenny joked.

After several pictures were taken of the cake, the presents and the guest of honor with the respective guests, Niles tore open the gifts, revealing an abundance of baby items. There were blankets, diapers, toys, and other items. But the most cherished was a handsome leather-bound book of nursery rhymes from Frasier.

His brother also gave Niles a membership to an exclusive club for children; one that their father and mother had never been able to give to their sons. He was so touched that he hugged Frasier once more. "Thank you, Frasier. So much. This is… truly wonderful."

"Hey, open mine next!" Bulldog yelled, handing Niles a gift wrapped in blue and green paper, adorned with football balls.

"Thanks, Bulldog." Niles said, smiling as he tore open the package. He lifted the lid and removed the tiny blue and green baby outfit, complete with matching blue and green socks. The oohs and ahhs could be heard from all directions as the men moved closer trying to get a good luck. And to satisfy them, Niles held up the outfit, garnering more enthusiasm from the crowd.

"That's great, isn't it?"

Niles turned the outfit around and read the blue and green lettering on the front; " _Future Linebacker_ ". And then he glanced at his father and brother in confusion, his father smiled while Frasier only shrugged.

"It's a football term." His father explained. "It's a position…"

"It means.."

His father looked at Bulldog and shook his head. "Never mind what it means, Bulldog. It's pointless to try and explain it. Believe me, I've tried!"

The men laughed at Niles ' father's comment and even Niles had to smile.

"Who wants cake?" Frasier shouted, to which he received a rousing response from the crowed. The men gathered around the table as Frasier handed Niles a knife to begin cutting the pieces of cake for the guests.

"The hell with cake!" Duke yelled. "Who wants beer?"

This, of course, brought an even bigger response of enthusiasm and soon the beer was flowing, case was consumed, conversations became livelier, laughter abounded and Niles looked around the tavern in awe. Aside from the moments he'd spent with his beloved Daphne, he had to admit that he'd never been happier.


	5. Chapter 5

"Niles, is there anything you'd like to say before we pack all of this stuff up?"

Niles smiled and glanced around the tavern. "Actually yes, Dad. There is something. I just… Wow, this is all so overwhelming. I didn't expect to be so nervous. But it's not like I'm up for an award or-."

"And it sure as hell ain't Wine Club!" Stinky's voice yelled from the back of the room, making everyone laugh.

Niles swallowed hard. "You're right about that, but um… I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this. Not just the gifts, although there's no doubt in my mind that my son or daughter will be spoiled rotten before coming into the world, but for everything. Thank you everyone."

Niles' speech brought applause, and then his father's comment;

"That was the idea, son!" Martin said, laughing along with everyone else.

"You mean spoiled rotten like Daddy!" Bud yelled, bringing even more laughter. By this time even Niles had joined in the laughter. And he found it strangely cleansing.

"Niles, you know we love you. We're just having a little fun with ya!"

Niles smiled at his father and went to him, enveloping him into a tight hug. "Dad thanks so much for this. It's… overwhelming, really. And Daphne will be thrilled. I just wish she was here."

"I know you do, and we probably should have included her but this is _Men's Night Out_. Daphne can see all of the stuff when we bring it home. Frasier and I will help you get it all inside."

"Thanks Dad. This means the world to me."

"You're welcome."

His father moved away but Niles held him tighter. "Dad? I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you showed up at my office. I should have never said what I did."

"Na, don't worry about it. It's true enough. I hardly ever come over there."

"You're welcome anytime, Dad. And I mean that."

The eldest Crane man chuckled. "I'm going to hold you to it, you know!"

"Thank you, Dad, for this party and the gifts…"

"Don't thank me. Thank Fras here. He was the one who planned it."

Niles' eyebrows rose and he turned to face his brother. "Frasier? But how…"

"San Francisco isn't that far away, and one day I found myself thinking about you and Dad and Daphne and how much I missed you. I always think about you but on that day it was particularly so-."

"Oh geez, just tell the damn story, already!"

"Fine, Dad!" Frasier grumbled. "I was missing my family; especially you and Daphne and I thought about how I did everything I could to keep you from telling Daphne how you felt about her. When I see you together and how in love you are, I realize how wrong I was. This is just a small way of saying that I'm sorry. And I am sorry, Niles."

Niles hugged his brother tightly. "It's all right, Frasier. I know why you did it. And thank you. Not just for this amazing party, but for hiring Daphne. It's the best decision you ever made."

Frasier smiled at Niles and their father. "It was, wasn't it?"

"I don't know about you, but I need another beer!" their father said.

"That sounds great." Niles agreed.

The three Crane men returned to the other guests and then filled their plates with cake and their glasses with beer.

"I propose a toast." Niles said holding his glass high. His father and brother did the same.

"Well, what should we toast to?" His father asked.

Niles thought for a moment. "To the Crane men, whom I've looked up to my entire life and love very much. I hope I can be half as good as a father as you've been to me, Dad and Frasier has been to Freddie. I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for me. Not just the party, but everything."

The three Crane men were about to clink their glasses together but the eldest Crane stopped them. "Wait, I have a better toast."

"All right, Dad. What's the toast?" Niles asked.

His father smiled. "To fatherhood. The best experience a man can have!"

 **THE END**

 **A/N: This story is meant to deviate a little from the show so some of the details have been altered a bit, timeline wise.**


End file.
